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Education & Teaching vocabulary · Assessment and Grading

Exam

Meaning in education & teaching, with examples

/ɪɡˈzæm/nounCore term

In education & teaching, exam means: A formal test of students' knowledge or skills, usually taken at a fixed time and place under controlled conditions; short for examination.

In Turkish: sınav, yazılı

How it is used

Students take, sit (UK), pass or fail an exam; teachers set, write, give and mark exams. Common types are midterm exam, final exam, mock exam and entrance exam. Exam is more formal and longer than a quiz or test.

Example sentences

  1. The final exam covers units one to six.

  2. Most of the class passed the exam, but four students will need to retake it.

Common collocations

  • take an exam
  • pass an exam
  • fail an exam
  • final exam
  • mock exam
  • summative assessmentAssessment at the end of a unit, term or course that measures what students have learned, usually to give a grade or make a decision.
  • standardized testA test that all students take under the same conditions, with the same or equivalent questions, and that is scored in the same way so results can be compared.
  • proctorA person who supervises students during an exam to make sure the rules are followed and nobody cheats.
  • markTo check students' work, show what is right or wrong and give it a score or grade.
  • gradeA letter or number that shows how good a student's work or overall performance is; in American schools it also means a school year level, as in fifth grade.

More terms: Assessment and Grading

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